Flashback: People in long-term relationships will know the problem: your partner in crime’s birthday is just around the corner and you’ve already given him the most creative presents about a hundred times. And since I’m a huge fan of personal presents, I can’t just buy some random perfume or (God, please save me from this shame) a carelessly purchased gift card. No, I’m a good girlfriend, so I’ve bought tickets for the Star Wars Identities Exhibition in Munich (until Oct 17, 2016; Munich, Olympiapark), because my boyfriend adores Star Wars like Anakin loves Padme. But to be honest, I thought that he would be incredibly grateful and take one of his best friends with him. But what a surprise; he asked me, the most disinterested person when it comes to Star Wars.
A trip to a completely unknown galaxy
Present: So here I am, entering the audio-guided Star Wars Exhibition. The first room shows some strange figures, creepy masks and weird costumes. I’m a bit confused, so I turn around to ask my boyfriend – who are these figures? And where is the little green goblin who always talks as if he’d never heard anything about grammar and word order? But he’s gone. Apparently, I’m joining a trip to a completely unknown galaxy, but my boyfriend feels absolutely at home.
So from this point on please join my very lonely trip into the Star Wars world. As the name already suggests, this exhibition is a journey into the world of Star Wars, but also into your very own identity. So if you go, you’ll learn a lot about how your identity is formed. In order to make the exhibition more interactive you wear black bracelets, which will help to create your own Star Wars character. These bracelets store every answer to different quizzes that you have to answer during your journey. As you can imagine, I’m not very good at ans
wering the questions since I’ve no idea whether I was born in Tatooine or Bespin. But I join the game and follow the path to my Star Wars character. On my way to my new identity I pass 200 requisites, costumes and drawings. The little voice in my ears explains every little detail and I learn that the early versions of the little green goblin, called Yoda, looked like a cross between Santa Claus and a garden gnome at first. And while I’m still wondering if Jabba the Hood, who looks like a gigantic slug, is the most powerful criminal, I’m suddenly facing him. Even I know his name and his breathing problems: Darth Vader himself is standing right in front of me. And now every visitor has to answer the most difficult question: should you join the dark side?
Seriously? I’m working for a slug?
After everybody has decided which side they would like to join, the trip ends and you finally experience which Star Wars character you are. And while everyone around me is pressing their bracelets against a huge monitor and waiting enthusiastically for their identity, I’m also experiencing the thrill of anticipation, waiting for my character to pop up on the black monitor. But my initial excitement about my really cool-looking Star Wars character soon fades, as my boyfriend, who has finally found his way back to me, is dying of laughter behind my back. “You belong to Jabba’s gang,” he screams. Seriously? I’m working for a slug?
After I’ve overcome the disappointment, I ask my boyfriend if he enjoyed the exhibition. But he says nothing, because he isn’t listening to me; he’s still staring at his Star Wars character: a Jedi Knight trained by Qui-Gon Jinn. But it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t answer, because I see the smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes – oh yes, the force is definitely with him.
Author & Pictures: Julia Huss
is certainly staying at a hostel in a dormitory with four to fourteen people. But honestly – is this a “holiday“? If you want to hear your roommates snoring or you want to discover more of their bad habits, you should definitely spend your time there!
passionate traveler I have already visited eight different places with Airbnb, so I’d like to share one experience with you:
s. Niantic and Nintendo have long refused to offer games for anything but their own gaming devices. At the beginning of July this year, a dream for many Pokémon fans worldwide came true: being able to actually integrate your game into your life. The very handy side effect of having to walk around your area or even explore new parts of your city (namely exercise), has been accepted widely.
ts: that means you have to actually hurry to do your move. Otherwise your opponent might just win without you even having used one single move.) No Pokécenters, marts (you get Pokéballs at Pokéstops, as well as other goodies) or hometowns of players exist in this game. There are teams to choose from: red, blue or yellow (probably because of the three original games/legendary Pokémon?). After choosing one, you will take over gyms with this team – but you also have to defend that said gym against opponents of the other teams.
h all of them, so you don’t have to miss out on one! (Yay!) Pokéstops: You want to visit as many of these as possible, as they’re your immediate supplier of Pokéballs, which you need to “be the very best.” The main point of Pokéstops and gyms, though, is to level up the player. This time, it doesn’t matter that much, what level your Pokémon are, but rather what level you are. The higher the level you are, the higher level Pokémon you’ll find. All of the creatures can be found in their “natural surrounding”, meaning you’ll find a Squirtle close to water and a Rattata or Pidgey basically everywhere. You just have to explore new areas to catch different types.
ower offers not only salsa classes, but also classes of other Latin American dances such as rumba, reaggeton, bachata, kizomba and rueda de casino, which is salsa danced in a circle by several couples. The dance school also regularly offers special workshops and free practice parties. Another option is the Salsa Elegante dance school, which hosts the parties at Henry’s and the Capitol. They also offer rueda classes in addition to their salsa dancing lessons. Two other dance schools you might want to have a look at in order to find the right one for you are the Los Banditos and the Move Arts.
Atlanta, the city that was burnt to the ground during The Civil War by Union General Sherman on his March to the Sea through the Confederate States, has a lot to offer. After having been to some of the typical sights like the Coca-ColaMuseum, the Georgia Aquarium and the CNN headquarters, we went to some of the small cities outside of Atlanta. One of them, Sandy Springs, has quite some history to offer. If you’re interested in the American Civil War, I can highly recommend the Heritage Sandy Springs Museum, which perpetuated original letters and quotes of especially women of that period, personal stories of pain and survival.
